ABOUT

JOHN PEARSON ASSOCIATESBoard Governance & Management Consultants

JOHN PEARSON retired in 2018 as president of John Pearson Associates, Inc., a board governance and management consulting firm in San Clemente, California. John served nonprofit Christian organizations in Vision Implementation With Detailed Execution. He is also the editor and publisher of the eNewsletter, Your Weekly Staff Meetingandhas reviewed over 400 leadership and management books in his eNews.

He’s the creator of numerous professional workshops, including the Mastering the Management Buckets Workshop Experience, The Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Workshop, and the Nonprofit Board Governance workshop on “Moving Your Board Members From Myth to Mission.” He has also led more than 35 organizations through the strategic planning process, “The Five Questions Every Nonprofit Organization and Church Must Answer: Peter Drucker's Nonprofit Self-Assessment Tool.”

John has served more than 30 years as a nonprofit CEO and 25 of those years leading three associations. Well-connected and well-read, John has been the publisher of two magazines, written more than 500 issues of various newsletters on management and ministry and more than 100 magazine columns on leadership and management ministry trends, including the "Management Rules of Thumb" series in the Christian Management Report.

He has led more than 50 regional, national and international conferences, and facilitated dozens of day-long CEO Dialogue roundtables. John served six years on the board of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability), was chairman of the presidential search committee (to replace a CEO/founder) as a board member for Interdev, and also served as a board member at Bakke Graduate University, Seattle, Wash.

In 2006, Christian Management Association honored Pearson as the first recipient of the Ted Engstrom Award, named after Dr. Ted Engstrom, the president emeritus of World Vision. John served six years as chairman of the Board of Directors for Christian Community Credit Union and continues to serve on the board. John previously served as a member of the board of Reference/advisory council of TrueFace, Strategic Resource Group, and Pioneer Clubs. He has also been a member and volunteer with The Barnabas Group.

John and Joanne's son, Jason, also lives in San Clemente with his wife, Melinda, and their five children, including triplet teenagers. Jason also serves both nonprofit and for-profit organizations through his company, Pearpod.

FAMILY & FUN STUFF!JOHN AND JOANNE (chief operating officer of John Pearson Associates, Inc.) have been married for 48 years and they’ve had the privilege of traveling and/or teaching leadership, management and board governance in more than 50 countries.

The Pearsons are also blessed to live just one mile from family. Their son, Jason, is the co-founder of CrossSection, and in 2013 premiered his solo exhibition at a Laguna Beach art gallery, "The Problem With the World Is Me." His recent exhibition, "Year of Mercy" is also featured in his latest book, I Show No Mercy. Jason and Melinda are the happy, but tired, parents of five children (including triplet 15-year-olds).

John has also collaborated with Jason on numerous creative projects and wrote the Faith-Based Leader’s Resource Guide for the Rocky Balboa movie and the leader’s guide for The Nativity Story DVD, and authored the Personal Action Journal (a 42-day journey to make poverty personal) as part of The Hole in Our Gospel Six-Week Quest, based on the book by Richard E. Stearns.

John also contributes a weekly commentary to the ECFA Governance of Christ-centered Organizations blog and is the writer and project coordinator of the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series, a unique packaging of short videos, board member viewing guides and facilitator guides on niche governance issues including Series No. 1: Recruiting Board Members, Series No. 2: Balancing Board Roles (The 3 Hats: Governance, Volunteer and Participant), and Series No. 3: Conflicts of Interest. Series No. 4: Succession Planning.

In his other life, John once owned a 100th anniversary Harley-Davidson motorcycle and also played an FBI agent (actually…just one scene) in the movie, The Genius Club, starring Stephen Baldwin.

Jan. 15, 2018: Board Governance Workshop.On April 10, 2018, John Pearson and Mike Pate will be facilitating a half-day workshop, "4 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board." Hosted by The Barnabas Group in Newport Beach, Calif., it is open to members of TBG.

Nov. 22, 2017: 40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays. Forty guest bloggers are sharing their insights and color commentaries on the 40 short lessons in Dan Busby's and John Pearson's new book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, now available onAmazon. The first blog, "Wanted: Lifelong Learners" was posted today. Read the blog here. Visit the book's website here.Nov. 2, 2017: New Book by Busby and Pearson! Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson is now available from ECFA Press and Amazon. With 40 short chapters on board governance, the book is perfect for inspiring board members to be lifelong learners. Watch for the blog series on this helpful book.

Oct. 9, 2017: Flourishing Culture Podcast.Sneak Peek at Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. John Pearson and Dan Busby were interviewed on Oct. 9 by Al Lopus for The Flourishing Culture Podcast. (Listen here.) John and Dan shared a few sneak peeks from their new book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, coming in November from ECFAPress.

Oct. 3, 2017: No Bad Bosses Podcast.Pearson and Pate on Bad Bosses! John Pearson and Mike Pate were featured on the "No Bad Bosses" podcast on Oct. 3. Listen here.Oct. 2, 2017: Hot-off-the-Press! Mastering the Management Buckets WORKBOOK. With 20 insightful "color commentary" introductions to the 20 buckets, Doug Martinez and Jason Pearson, co-founders of CrossSection, have added their touch and management savvy to this new 228-page CrossSection Resource, written by John Pearson. It's now available from Amazon. Click here to order.

Sept. 8, 2017: New! Mastering the Management Buckets WORKBOOK. John and the creative team at CrossSection are adding the final touches (and edits!) to a new resource, Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook, with management tools, templates, and tips from John Pearson, with color commentary by Jason Pearson and Doug Martinez. The 228-page resource will include worksheets, resources, and next steps for each of the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and will be available on Amazon in October.

Aug. 7, 2017: Podcast on New Board Book. Dan Busby and John Pearson, co-authors of the forthcoming book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, will be featured on "The Flourishing Culture Podcast" in Oct. 9. Stay tuned for more information.

May 16, 2017: No Bad Bosses Podcast.View the "No Bad Bosses" podcast, recorded live today, by David Russell, CEO of ManageToWin. Mike Pate and John Pearson had a few laughs and some whacks of wisdom talking about boards, bosses, and leadership cultures. Learn about the one hiring criteria used by In-N-Out Burger.

May 2, 2017: Flourishing Culture Podcast.Listen to John's interview for the Flourishing Culture Podcast, a program of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. Al Lopus asked John about "Books, Board Governance, and Hoopla!" for this 26th episode of Season 2. Listen here.

April 28, 2017: Board Leadership Workbook 2 of 2.Murdock Trust's Board Leadership & Development Program has just released a second workbook (178 pages), edited by John Pearson. To order from Amazon, click on this title: Murdock Trust Board Program: Book 2 of 2.April 25, 2017: Flourishing Culture Blog.John's interview for the Flourishing Culture Podcast, a program of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, was featured in their blog today, "3 Secrets to Read More Leadership Books (And Apply Their Solutions) in Less Time." The podcast will be released on May 1. Read the blog.April 11, 2017: Podcast Interview.John was interviewed today for the Flourishing Culture Podcast, a program of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. According to BCWI, "We bring you timely, transformative truths from the Christian workplace you can use to build a flourishing culture and a thriving organization. This series is designed to equip and inspire Christian organizations to be the best, most effective workplaces in the world." The interview with John, hosted by Al Lopus, president of BCWI, will be released on May 1, along with a transcript of the podcast.March 2, 2017: Board Leadership Workbook Published.Murdock Trust's Board Leadership & Development Program has just released a new 194-page workbook, edited by John Pearson. To order from Amazon, click on this title: Murdock Trust Board Program: Book 1 of 2.Feb. 27, 2017: Governance Blog Series. John launched a blog series this year on the classic board governance book, Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board, by Max De Pree. Read John's initial review of the book here, and then catch up on his series of blog posts here at the Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations blog here (hosted by ECFA), including the recent post, "The Bell Curve of a Board Meeting."Dec. 31, 2016: Top-10 Books of 2016. John Pearson's annual list of the Top-10 Books of the Year, including his pick for Book of the Year, will be announced on Dec. 31 in his year-end issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. (Visit the archives here.) The updated master lists of more than 370 books that John has reviewed are posted at the Book Bucket webpage, including books by bucket category and his updated "Top 100 Books List."Dec. 1, 2016: Board Book Coming. In Dan Busby's article, "Avoiding Common Board Mistakes," which was featured in the Winter 2016 issue of Outcomes, the magazine of Christian Leadership Alliance, it was announced that Busby and John Pearson are co-authors of the forthcoming book, Lessons From the Boardroom. It will be published in 2017.Nov. 16, 2016: Board Recruitment Webinar. "Recruiting Board Members: Leveraging the 4 Phases of Board Recruitment," a one-hour webinar with John Pearson and Mike Pate will be presented by Mission Increase Foundation on Nov. 16, 2016, Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. PST. Click here for more information.

Aug. 30, 2016: Golf Consultant!Actually...not really. But John has enjoyed a nice trend this year--clients have hosted him for golf before all the hard work begins! In May, John tooled around a course in Eastern Oregon on the new golf boarding craze! (Check out the new technology here.) This month, he shared a golf course in Idaho with three cowboys and nine cows, plus clients. Honest! Next month, he'll try not to embarrass himself at the Biola University golf tourney.

July 1, 2016: New Book for Young Leaders.John wrote the foreword to a new book, Be the Director I Could Follow (A Camp Director's Manual), by Earl D. Taylor. Read John's review here.

July 1, 2016: New Book by Nick Nicholaou!John was privileged to write the foreword to a new book, Church IT: Strategies and Solutions, by Nick B. Nicholaou. It's published by the Church Law & Tax division of Christianity Today. John will review this one-of-a-kind resource for the information technology staff members of local churches in a future issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting.May 1, 2016: The ONE Thing!John reviewed a powerful New York Times bestseller, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan in Issue No. 342 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (Read John's review here.) The insights on goal setting are profound. Per Keller, "Earlier I discussed Dr. Gail Matthew's research that individuals with written goals were 39.5 percent more likely to succeed. But there's more to the story. Individuals who wrote their goals and sent progress reports to friends were 76.7 percent more likely to achieve them."

March 29-30, 2016: CCCA Thriving Boards Program. The first cohort of 13 Christian camps and conference center boards launched this week at Warm Beach Camp & Conference Center, Stanwood, Wash., organized by Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA). John is the lead facilitator for 2016. Funded in part by Murdock Trust, the program will inspire and equip 13 camp boards each year for the next three years, through a mix of two, two-day board training sessions, plus two days of customized coaching, and additional resources, tools, and templates. More info here.

Feb. 19, 2016: Murdock Trust Board Leadership & Development Program. The third cohort of Murdock Trust's innovative enrichment program for 12 nonprofit organizations from the Northwest launched this month. John is the lead facilitator and will be coaching six boards in 2016. The CEO and four board members from each organization participated in a two-day session, Feb. 17-18, with a follow-up session planned for May 3-4 in Vancouver, Wash. Each nonprofit also receives two days of customized board coaching.

Jan. 4, 2016: Final Edition of Drucker Mondays Ends 52-Week Series. With thanks to 52 guest writers, the final edition of Drucker Mondays hit the streets today with five ideas for leveraging the book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. For links to all 52 weeks/chapters, click here.

Dec. 31, 2015: Top-10 Books for 2015 Announced. Today, John announced his annual list of "Top-10 Books"and his book-of-the-year--picked from the books he reviewed in 2015. Click to read the list.

Dec. 1, 2015:CCCA Inaugural Board Program Announced. Today, Christian Camp and Conference Association announced that the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has approved a grant for the CCCA Inaugural Board Program to be launched in Washington State in 2016. Limited to just 13 camps and conference centers, the first year of the program will be coordinated by John Pearson.

Sept. 1, 2015: ECFA Nonprofit Financial Management Survey 1.0 Available for Download. John was the project coordinator for ECFA's first-ever financial management survey. Click here to download the Top 10 Highlights, or to order the executive summary.

Aug. 1, 2015: InSite Magazine: "Development 101" Book Review. The August/September issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of Development 101: Building a Comprehensive Development Program on Biblical Values, by John R. Frank and R. Scott Rodin. Read John's review.

This issue on healthy boards, also featured John's article, "Three Hats: Bring Clarity to Dysfunctional Boards," based on the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 2: Balancing Board Roles. (See the promotional video here.)

July 13, 2015:Visit to the Basilica in Barcelona, Spain.Following a planning conference in Europe, John and Joanne visited La Sagrada Familia, the 100-plus year building project conceived by Antoni Gaudi, the visionary architect who died in 1926--but whose life and work continues to inspire craftsmen to complete this astonishing church. "My client is not in a hurry," Gaudi told people who wondered when it would be finished. Watch the videos here. John considers this visit one of his Top-10 life experiences and hopes he'll live long enough to return after it is completed!

May 1, 2015: InSite Magazine: "Best Book on Leadership" Book Review. The April/May issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War, by Larry Hedrick, editor. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, called this the "best book on leadership." Read John's review.

April 10, 2015: ECFA Governance Toolbox No. 3. ECFA announced the latest title in the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series is now available: Series No. 3: Conflicts of Interest - Addressing Board and Organizational Conflicts of Interest—Avoiding Trouble, Trouble, Trouble With Related–Party Transactions. John Pearson is the project coordinator. More info here.

April 2, 2015: Book List Updated. Leadership, Management and Governance Books. The first quarter of book reviews featured in John's Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews are now listed in an updated version of the master book list--with more than 325 books. Download three lists at the Book Bucket.

March 1, 2015:InSite Magazine: Boys in the Boat Book Review. The February/March issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the stunning book, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown. Read John's review and why he called the book, "an extraordinary read on team-building and leadership." Read the review.

Feb. 4, 2015:Murdock Trust's 2015 Board Leadership & Development Program. The 2015 Cohort of 11 organizations has been selected for the Murdock Trust's enrichment program for CEOs and board members of nonprofit Christian organizations in their five-state funding area. John is the lead facilitator of this program which seeks to serve up to 400 organizations in the Northwest over the next few years. There are two-day sessions in both February and May, plus two days of board coaching for each participating organization.

Jan. 6, 2015: Drucker Mondays. Today John announced that he is publishing a second eNews, Drucker Mondays, every Monday morning in 2015. This short coaching tip sheet, with guest writers every week, will follow the new book, A Year With Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. To read the first issue, click here. For a free subscription, click here.

Dec. 31, 2014: Top-10 Books of 2014. Today, John announced his picks for 2014 Book-of-the-Year and his Top-10 books of 2014. Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War, by Xenophon (Larry Hedrick, Editor) received top honors. Peter Drucker said this was the best book ever written on leadership. John also updated his master lists of over 300 book reviews. Click here.

Nov. 26, 2014:ECFA 3rd Annual Nonprofit Governance Survey. John was the project coordinator for this survey of best practices in governance of ECFA-accredited organizations. Visit the ECFA Surveys webpage to download a PDF or order a print copy of the 62-page executive summary, which was just released. Read a summary of the Top-10 highlights here.

Oct. 11, 2014:Rescue Magazine Features Governance. "A Fresh Take on Boards" was the cover story for Rescue, published by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (July/August). The 14-page spread featured three articles by John, including: "5 Ways to Inspire Board Members to Be 'TrendSpotters,'" "12 Questions Every Board Member Must Ask," and "5 Ways to Engage Board Members at Every Meeting."

Sept. 5, 2014: CCCA Webinar Announced. Christian Camp and Conference Association announced today that John will be presenting a webinar for camp and conference center leaders on Nov. 20, 2014, Thursday 10 a.m. MDT. The topic: "Building Better Processes: 6 Best Practices That Guarantee Every Team Member Will Establish and Exceed the Right Goals on Time and Under Budget."

August 1, 2014: InSite Magazine: The Student Leadership Challenge Book Review. The August/September 2014 issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the new book, The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Becoming an Exemplary Leader, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. Read John's full review here.June 13, 2014: InSite Magazine: The Choice Book Review.The June/July 2014 issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the new book, The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes, by Gary Hoag, R. Scott Rodin, and Wes Willmer. Read John's review here.

May 21, 2014: ECFA Governance Blog.John's recent blog, "Good to Great Governance: Who Cares?" was reprinted on the Christian Leadership Alliance blog. (Read the article here.) John writes this weekly blog for the ECFA Governance of Christ-centered Organizations blog. For more blog posts, click here.

April 2, 2014: InSite Magazine: Drucker Book Review.The April/May 2014 issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the new book, The Practical Drucker: Applying the Wisdom of the World's Greatest Management Thinker, by William A. Cohen (published by AMA). Read John's review here.

March 25, 2014: ECFA Webinar. John Pearson and Cameron Doolittle will present the results of the ECFA 1st Annual Church Stewardship Survey at this ECFA-hosted webinar today. (If you miss it, check out ECFA's webinars-on-demand here.)

Feb. 13, 2013: InSite Magazine: Strengths Article.The February/March 2014 issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's article, "The Power of StrengthsFinder to Improve Your Team and Ministry."

Jan. 24, 2014: ECFA 1st Annual Church Stewardship Survey.The Executive Summary of ECFA's 1st Annual Church Stewardship Survey will be published next month. John served as the project coordinator. Last fall the ECFA 1st Annual Nonprofit Fundraising Survey was published and is also available online here. More surveys are planned for this year.

Jan. 10, 2014:Governance Articles in Credit Union Publication. Recently, John has written two articles for CUES’ Center for Credit Union Board Excellence (CCUBE). CUES is an international membership association for credit union executives, directors and future leaders. CCUBE offers enhanced governance education to improve the performance of credit union boards.

Dec. 31, 2013: Book-of-the-Year for 2013 Announced. John's updated master lists of book reviews from Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews was posted today on the Book Bucket page: LIST #1: Books by Management Buckets CategoriesLIST #2: Books by eNews Issue Number (#1 to #291). The lists also include John's Top-10 Book Picks for 2013, including his Book-of-the-Year selection, What Got You Here, Won't Get Your There.

Dec. 1, 2013:InSite Magazine: More Pearson Stuff. The December/January issue of InSite, a publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the book, Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind, by Jocelyn K. Glei, Editor (read the full review here). This issue also included a short sidebar, "8 Reasons Strategic Plans Fail," also by John.

Nov. 15, 2013:The 3 Powerful S's. Recently, John has facilitated several staff team sessions on "Leveraging the 3 Powerful S's: Strengths, Social Styles and Spiritual Gifts." To bring this highly interactive and engaging session to your team, which includes the Gallup Organization's StrengthsFinder assessment, contact us.

Sept. 10, 2013:ECFA 2013 Nonprofit Fundraising Survey. Hot-off-the-press, click here for a free PDF of the 52-page Executive Summary of the ECFA 2013 Nonprofit Fundraising Survey of 250 ECFA-accredited organizations. John was the project coordinator for this survey.

June 22, 2013:Video Highlights ECFA Governance Toolbox Series. Just released by ECFA, here's a three-minute video with highlights from the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series, written by John Pearson. View the video here.June 11, 2013:InSite Magazine Excerpts Frog Review. John's review of the book, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, by Brian Tracy, was excerpted in this month's issue of InSite, the bimonthly publication of Christian Camp and Conference Association. Read the full review here.

May 30, 2013:Readers Recommend Their Ideal Bookshelves. After John reviewed the new book, My Ideal Bookshelf, and posted his own ideal bookshelf, readers of Your Weekly Staff Meeting have emailed John their own Top-10 lists and photos. To see the books that Ken Sutterfield, Paul Thompson, Greg Anderson, David Curry, Jason Pearson and Jeff Lilley hold high, visit John Pearson's Buckets Blog. To submit your photo, email John.

May 8, 2013:ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 2 Available. ECFA has just released the second in the Governance Toolbox Series, "Balancing Board Roles: Understanding the 3 Board Hats: Governance, Volunteer, Participant." The toolbox includes a short DVD, 12 board member read-and-engage viewing guides and a facilitator guide. John Pearson wrote the video script and content for the guides for both Series No. 1 and Series No. 2. Read John's blog for more information and to order the toolboxes from ECFA.

April 29, 2013:John Pearson's Book List. In preparation for his May 2 workshop at CLA Anaheim 2013, "Bad Idea: Management by Bestseller, John has updated his list of 275 books he's reviewed in Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. The books are categorized within the 20 Management Buckets. Download here. To read the reviews, visit his blog. Click here for a free subscription.

March 13, 2013:While the World Watches Rome... John recently has reviewed a book a film about the Pope & The CEO (book) and We Have a Pope (film). Read the reviews.

Dec. 30, 2012:ECFA 2012 Governance Survey & Webinar. Results from the annual survey of CEOs, board chairs and board members (from ECFA-accredited organizations) was published today in a 48-page executive summary. John had the privilege of working with the ECFA team and Cameron Doolittle, CEO of Jill's House, on this survey of 1,600 leaders. It is distributed free to ECFA members. Details: ECFA. Additional color commentary will be provided by John and Cameron during an ECFA webinar on February 12, 2013, Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Nov. 15, 2012:2013 Board Workshops. John is now accepting invitations for organizations to host the six-hour non-profit ministry board enrichment workshops in 2013. Contact John for more information.

Oct. 25, 2012:CLA Anaheim 2013 Workshops. John has been invited to present two workshops at the Christian Leadership Alliance National Conference, April 30-May 2, 2013. In the Board track, he will co-present with Wes Willmer, "Inspiring Board Members to Model Generous Giving." John will also present "Bad Idea: Management by Bestseller" in the Executive Leadership track.

Oct. 13, 2012:Now Available - Recruiting Board Members DVD! "When recruiting board members, don't propose marriage on your first date." That's just one zinger from the new-this-month ECFA GOVERNANCE TOOLBOX SERIES NO. 1: Recruiting Board Members. It was fun to work with my son, Jason, and his CrossSection team to create this short DVD, Board Member Read-and-Engage Viewing Guide, plus other resources for ECFA President Dan Busby. Order today! Series No. 2, Balancing Board Roles: The 3 Hats of a Board Member, is in production.

Sept. 30, 2012: The 7 Deadly Sins of Boards. John Pearson and Dan Bolin will be leading a one-hour webcast on "The 7 Deadly Sins of Boards" for Christian Leadership Alliance on Oct. 25, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. PDT. Visit CLA to register.

August 15, 2012:ECFA Governance Toolbox Series Announced! ECFA has contracted with John Pearson Associates, Inc. to write and create the first two titles in the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series. The first, Recruiting Board Members, will be released in September and includes a 10-minute DVD, a Board Member Read and Engage Viewing Guide, and a Facilitator Guide. Order at ECFA.

June 15, 2012:Buckets in Russian! Gospel Light Worldwide announced this week that Mastering the Management Buckets will be published in the Russian language by Knigonosha Ltd. Watch "The Buzz" for the publication date.

March 1, 2012:Talent Masters. InSite magazine, published by the Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured John's review of the book, The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers, in their March/April 2012 issue.

THE BUZZ: 2011

December 16, 2011:Blogging on Governance. ECFA announced today that John Pearson will contribute a weekly article to ECFA's blog, "Governance of Christ-centered Organizations." John's first posting is titled "10 Questions to Ask Before Joining a Board."

November 15-16, 2011:Board Leadership Pilot Program. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has invited John Pearson to be the lead facilitator of a six-month "Board Leadership & Development" pilot program for eight nonprofit ministries in the Northwest. The three-phase program includes a workshop, Nov. 15-16, followed by a coaching segment, and then a follow-up workshop in March 2012.

October 21, 2011:Buckets Book Published in Indonesia.Gospel Light Worldwide announced today that the publisher, Penerbit Gandum Mas, has just published the Indonesian edition of Mastering the Management Buckets. This country of 17,500 islands (6,000 inhabited) has a population of 232 million. According to the book, Operation World, Muslims comprise 80 percent of the country and Christians represent 15.85 percent of the population. In this edition, the three legs of the stool, "Cause, Community and Corporation" are translated as "Alasan-alasan, Komunitas and Korporasi."

Sept. 29, 2011:CEO Dialogue With Mission Agency CEOs. John Pearson co-facilitated the CEO Dialogue roundtable with 90 North American mission agency CEOs and leaders at the NAMLC in Scottsdale, Arizona today.

August 16, 2011:Strategic Plan Workshop Dates Announced. The next Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Workshop, presented by John Pearson, will be Oct. 25-26, 2011, hosted by Christian Community Credit Union, San Dimas, Calif., and sponsored by Neighborhood Christian Fellowship of Covina, Calif. Click here for more info.

July 31, 2011:Goal Alignment Article in EMQ. John's new article on "Goal Alignment: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness," was published in the July 2011 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly. EMQ is published by the Evangelism and Missions Information Service of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

July 19, 2011:Management Buckets? There's an App for That! If you use an iPhone or an iPad, go to the Apple App Store and download a free app for Mastering the Management Buckets. This new tool will keep you posted on the Management Buckets training events in North America, plus Buckets tweets and other management news. The app is one of 10 powerful tools authors are now using from LoudToast.

June 15, 2011: Seattle--Largest-ever Buckets Workshop! Seattle's Union Gospel Mission hosted and sponsored the largest two-day Mastering the Management Buckets Workshop Experience ever! The Mission provided this practical workshop, presented by John Pearson, to 55 of their top leaders and managers--and also invited 15 other nonprofit organization and church leaders to participate, for a total of 70 life-long learners on June 15-16, 2011. Jeff Lilley is the president at Seattle's UGM.

May 31, 2011:Top-10 Hiring Mistakes Article. OnSite Magazine, published by Christian Camp and Conference Association, featured an article by John on "The Top-5 Hiring Mistakes," in their "clip and save" Field Manual section of the May/June magazine.

April 11, 2011:See You at CLA Dallas 2011. John will be facilitating a CEO Dialogues roundtable with Bob Kobielush on Tuesday, April 26, at the Christian Leadership Alliance annual conference in Dallas, and co-leading a workshop the next day, April 27, with Dan Bolin on "7 Deadly Board Sins." Visit CLA for more information.

Feb. 21, 2011:ECFA Board Governance Forum: March 15. ECFA announced this week that there is still room in BOARD GOVERNANCE ESSENTIALS FOR MINISTRIES, an ECFA 2011 Forum, in Dallas on March 15. Almost 100 board members and CEOs have already registered. John will join ECFA leaders Dan Busby and Wes Willmer as presenters. More info.

Dec. 10, 2010:Board Governance Workshop with ECFA: March 15, 2011 (Dallas). ECFA announced today that John Pearson, Wes Willmer and Dan Busby will be the three presenters of the ECFA FORUMS 2011 one-day session, BOARD GOVERNANCE ESSENTIALS FOR MINISTRIES, at The Hope Center, Plano, Texas, on Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Download the brochure. Register online at ECFA. Space is limited.

Oct. 19, 2010:Budget Bucket at Crystal Cathedral. (Garden Grove, Calif.). Sadly, the Crystal Cathedral, founded by Robert H. Schuller, announced this week it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. See the Wall Street Journal story here. Here's a link to John Pearson's letter to the editor that appeared in the Los Angeles Times print and online editions today. In the Budget Bucket chapter of John's book, he urges nonprofit Christian organizations and churches to demonstrate humility, transparency and accountability by being a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Willow Creek Community Church is an ECFA member, as is World Vision and 1,500 ministries.

Oct. 11, 2010:American Marketing Association (Chicago). Check out the program for the American Marketing Association's 2010 Nonprofit Marketing Conference. John is a keynote speaker on Oct. 11. More info.

July 15, 2010:American Marketing Association (Chicago). American Marketing Association's 2010 Nonprofit Marketing Conference has invited John to speak at the national event on Oct. 11, 2010. He will present an interactive general session on "Mastering the Management Buckets: Why a Comprehensive Marketing Plan Must Include Key Buckets."

June 25, 2010:News Flash! "Best of the Buckets" one-day workshop just added for July 28, 2010 in Charlotte, N.C., sponsored and hosted by SIM USA. Click here for details.

May 15, 2010:The 5 Drucker Questions. Several clients of John Pearson Associates are now reading Mastering the Management Buckets, along with Peter Drucker's quick-reading book on the five most important questions everyone organization must ask. To order that book, visit the Results Bucket.

March 15, 2010:Black Enterprise Magazine. A review of Mastering the Management Buckets was featured in the March 2010 edition of Black Enterprise magazine. Maxine B. Baker, president of the African American Nonprofit Network, noted that "The concept of 'bucket filling' is much more efficient than the outdated management notion of juggling balls." Read the article.

March 1, 2010:CCCA InSite Article. John Pearson's cover story article, "Develop, Navigate, Appreciate...Your Staff: Eight Ways to Improve Your Workplace's Genetic Code," was featured in the March/April 2010 issue of CCCA Insite magazine, published by Christian Camp and Conference Association.

Feb. 1, 2010:Focus on the Family eNews. John's article, "How to Bless Your Team Members" was featured in the February 2010 issue of Focus on the Family's "BoardLink" eNewsletter. Read the article.

Jan. 21, 2010:ECFA Regional Workshop. John presented a new one-hour workshop, "Goal Alignment: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness," at the ECFA Regional Workshop in Brea, Calif. He also joined Dan Busby, president of ECFA, discussing nonprofit goverance trends. Visit www.ECFA.org.

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2018 CalendarHop on the Bus, Gus! Here's where John Pearson will be in the months ahead and where his frequent flier miles will come from. Note: John "retired" on Jan. 1, 2018 (whatever that means), but still has a few projects and middle seats on airplanes to keep him busy.

Feb. 14, 2018 (Fullerton, Calif.) - Planning day with ECFA President Dan Busby on two more book projects: Lessons From the Church Boardroom and More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. (Visit the website for Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom.)

Oct. 16 - Nov. 30 (not on an airplane!) - Major Projects for ECFA, Murdock Trust and other great clients!

Nov. 20, 2014 (Webinar) - Building Better Processes: 6 Best Practices That Guarantee Every Team Member Will Establish and Exceed the Right Goals on Time and Under Budget (Thursday 10 a.m. MST) - Hosted by Christian Camp and Conference Association

Looking Back: 2011Note: some website links may have changed since this was posted.

March 15, 2011 (Dallas) - John Pearson, Wes Willmer and Dan Busby were the three presenters of the ECFA FORUMS 2011 one-day session, BOARD GOVERNANCE ESSENTIALS FOR MINISTRIES, at The Hope Center, Plano, Texas, on Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Download the brochure.

March 30, 2011 (Webinar) - John presented a 40-minute webinar for Christian Management Australia, "Oops! You're Not The Person I Thought I Hired! The Top-10 Hiring Mistakes and Top-5 Resources and Best Practices for Getting the Right People in the Right Positions at the Right Time in your Church or Ministry."

April 27, 2011 (Dallas) - John Pearson and Dan Bolin presented a workshop, "The Seven Deadly Sins of Boards," at the annual conference of Christian Leadership Alliance. More info and audio recording order options at: CLA.

May 21, 2011 (San Diego) - John Pearson and David Curry facilitated a CEO Dialogues roundtable at the annual conference of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. More info at: AGRM.

May 23, 2011 (San Diego) - John Pearson presented three workshops at the annual conference of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions: "Mastering the Management Buckets," "Six Best Practices for More Effective Boards," and "Nine Principles Every Talent Manager Must Know and Practice." More info and audio recording order options at: AGRM.

July 21, 2011 (Webinar) - John presented a webinar for Cornerstone Church Network's "Pastor Resource Call." Visit CCN for more information and listen to the March webinar also presented by John.

Aug. 23 2011 (Webinar) - John co-presented a webinar, with Steve Macchia and Dan Busby, for ECFA, "3 Core Competencies for God-honoring Church Governance." Visit ECFA for more information.

Sept. 8, 2011 (Webinar) - John Pearson presented a webinar, "Goal Alignment: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness," for members of The Mission Exchange. Register directly with TME.

Sept. 12, 2011 (Online Course) - John Pearson created the 12-week online course, "Association Leadership Essentials – Part 1: CORE COMPETENCIES FOR BUILDING AND SUSTAINING YOUR ALLIANCE OR ASSOCIATION." Offered by World Evangelical Alliance and the WEA Leadership Institute, in conjunction with Olivet University, the course is designed for association CEOs, staff, board members and key volunteers in national and international associations. Visit WEA-LI for more information.

Dec. 5-7, 2011 (Asheville, N.C.) - John Pearson presented an all-day workshop on board governance and two other workshops at the 2011 National Conference of Christian Camp and Conference Association at Ridgecrest Conference Center, Asheville, N.C. Click here for more info.

Looking Back: 2010Note: some website links may have changed since this was posted.January 21, 2010 (Brea, Calif.) - John was a speaker at the ECFA "Reaching Higher" one-day workshop in Brea, Calif. on the topic, "Goal Alignment: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness" and on "Board Governance Trends" with ECFA President Dan Busby. For more information, visit Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

February 9, 10 & 11, 2010 (Southern Calif.) - The Barnabas Group in Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego each invited John to present excerpts from "The Board Bucket" at their quarterly gatherings. John presented "Three Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Agree to Serve on a Nonprofit Board."

March 8, 2010 (Online) - In collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance Leadership Institute (WEALI), John facilitated a 10-week online course, Association Leadership Essentials 401, available worldwide. Week 1 begins the week of March 8. For more information, visit the WEALI website.

April 8, 2010 (Phoenix, Ariz.) - Bob Andringa and John Pearson facilitated a CEO Dialogues one-day roundtable in Phoenix. It was limited to just 25 CEOs of Christian nonprofit organizations. Senior pastors are also invited. More info at the CEO Dialogues website.

April 18-19, 2010 (Turkey) - In collaboration with the European Evangelical Alliance, the World Evangelical Alliance Leadership Institute (WEALI) offered the Association Leadership Essentials course with face-to-face instruction by the course author, John Pearson. Contact WEALI for more information.

June 3, 2010 (Colorado Springs) - John participated in the CEO Dialogues, hosted by David C. Cook. More info at the CEO Dialogues website.

Dec. 6-9, 2010 (Ridgecrest, N.C.) - CCCA National Conference. John presented workshops on Fund Development and the Management Buckets, the Top-10 Hiring Mistakes, and Customer Service Horrow Stories, plus and an all-day Monday "Best of the Buckets" session, at this annual gathering of the Christian Camp and Conference Association.

Looking Back: 2009Note: some website links may have changed since this was posted.

January 14, 2009 (Newport Beach, Calif.) - The Volunteer Bucket, half-day workshop by John Pearson, sponsored by The Barnabas Group.

March 27, 2009 (Tele-Seminar) - "Six Best Practices for More Effective Boards" was John's topic for this one-hour dial-in Tele-Seminar hosted by Christian Leadership Alliance. For the handouts or audio CD ordering info, click here.

April 17-20, 2009 (World Evangelical Alliance) - Presentation to the regional general secretaries of WEA, near Barcelona, Spain, as part of the new WEA Leadership Institute.

July 17-21, 2009 (NACBA Conference) - John was a workshop speaker at the 53rd National NACBA Conference in Long Beach, Calif. For more info on the National Association of Church Business Administration, visit their website.

October 8, 2009 (Online Webinar) - Mastering the 20 Management Buckets: Why We Must Focus First on the Results Bucket, was John's topic for this online "Learning Initiative," hosted by The Mission Exchange (formerly the Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies)

October 20-21, 2009 (Orange County, Calif.) - Mastering the Management Buckets Workshop Experience (open to the public) was the last Buckets workshop of the year.

October 25-28, 2009 (CCI Institute) - The CCI/Canada Executive Leadership Institute 2009 invited John to present the Management Buckets material at this invitation-only institute for camp and conference center executive directors. The Canada division of Christian Camping International hosted the institute at Camp Arnes in Manitoba.